1879-] 
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NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
Journal of a Tour in Morocco and the Great Atlas. By Joseph 
Dalton Hooker, Pres. R.S., and J. Ball, F.R.S. With 
an Appendix including a Sketch of the Geology of Morocco, 
by G. Maw, F.L.S., F.G.S. London : Macmillan and Co. 
There is perhaps no country in existence so near to the centres 
of European civilisation, and yet so little known, as the empire 
of Morocco. Its geology, its flora and fauna, and even the main 
features of its physical geography, are to a very great degree 
uncertain. The higher interest, therefore, attaches to the ex-; 
plorations undertaken by the authors. The main object of the 
journey was of course botanical. It had long been the wish of 
SirJ. D. Hooker to explore the range of the Great Atlas, “up 
to that time little better known to geographers than it was in the 
time of Strabo and Pliny, and especially to find whether its 
vegetation formed a connecting-link between that of the Medi- 
terranean region and the flora of the Canaries and Madeiras.” 
For this task the authors were specially qualified by an acquaint- 
ance with the vegetation of Spain, Italy, Asia Minor, Syria, and 
Algeria. As an indispensa'ble preliminary to travelling in such 
a region they had been furnished from the Foreign Office with a 
special recommendation to the Emperor, and they received every 
possible assistance from Sir J. Drummond Hay, at that time 
British Ambassador to the Moorish Court. Still their task was 
by no means easy. The provincial authorities received them, 
indeed, in deference to the Imperial mandate, with much courtesy, 
but at the same time showed no little suspicion, and were 
strongly desirous to prevent them from penetrating to the points 
they most desired to reach. The Moors, like many persons in 
our own country, cannot understand a man pursuing knowledge 
for its own sake. Hence the authors were obliged to represent 
themselves as searching for plants of medicinal value. Geolo- 
gical and mineralogical research could only be indulged in by 
stealth, as any one found breaking off fragments of stone is 
suspected of being a treasure-seeker. How a collector of ani- 
mals would have to justify his actions to native curiosity is hard 
to imagine. In this department, however, the travellers do not 
appear to have taken any special interest. Indeed the fauna of 
North-western Africa is far from rich. Insect-life was found 
remarkably scarce, only one species of butterfly ( Papilio podali- 
rius) being mentioned. Locusts, however, were plentiful and 
destructive, though their ravages were by no means so indiscri- 
